|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
 |
|
|
Each robot has information among these 7-8 variables that it communicates to the world. Each variable is created by the interaction of the other parts. These interactions are being modeled by Woodie Flowers' group. How to create and support a networked world that is highly affected by user behavior is a challenge. We envision the world being built of "bricks". Each brick has properties that are then communicated to the other bricks in the area. Bricks can differ in size. Likewise, damage models will be a bit difficult, although we anticipate a 3 leveled-model: Destroyed / Broken / Fully Functioning. The game is designed to be a massively multi-player persistent world game. However, in the case that creating and maintaining such a world is technically or economically unfeasible, the game can be re-imagined as a session - based multi-player game ala Diablo. Players could meet in chat lobbies, and then go on constrained missions on the planet. Given the potential size of the planet, this scheme would be consistent with the backstory of the game; players are orbiting the planet, deploying robots to achieve specific missions. Missions might include scouting an area to locate a mineral resource, designing and building a bridge, or creating robots to haul materials back to the main base. While these constrained tasks may be easier to implement, we believe that losing the online element of the persistent multi-player game would make the game much less appealing to non-traditional gamers.
|
In
general, the game engine works similarly to other Massively Multiplayer
games, although it allows users greater control in manipulating the environment.
The robots are all created and key aspects are computed offline. These
dimensions of the robot's performance are then "black-boxed"
and communicated back to the server in game. These dimensions include: